This invention relates to gravity outlets for railroad cars and, more particularly, to a multi-ply seal for use on such outlets.
In railroad cars for transporting a lading, one way of discharging the lading is by use of gravity outlets. The car has a series of hopper sections in which the lading is transported, and an outlet is positioned at the bottom of each hopper section. The outlet includes a horizontally sliding gate which is movable to open the outlet and allow the lading to discharge from the car. Because of the metal construction of the outlet and its gate, the parts tend to wear. As they wear, and due to other distortions which occur over time, the gate and valve body do not always seat properly. This not only makes the outlet more difficult to open and close, but may also result in lading contamination, or lading being lost during transport.